#53 | Birth Story Mini: Candra's Back Labor with Group B Strep

My name is Candra. And I have one daughter Keegan, who is eight months old. She arrived in October, leading up to her due date. I was sure she was going to come early, but she did not. The weekend after she was supposed to have been here, my husband Peter and I just committed to walking almost 10 miles a day, doing lots of squats, and anything else we could think of to help her come to us because we were really looking forward to meeting her.

That Monday was my first official day of maternity leave and I didn't go into work. So I just took the whole day I was out walking, and that night when we're getting ready for bed, I was just like, Wow, I can't believe this hasn't started yet. And then I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth, bent over her to pop stood up and looked down. And I was standing in a puddle, so my water had broke. And I called him Peter. I was like, I think this is it I my water just broke. Let's see if anything happens. I'm going back a few weeks earlier at week 3738 I was tested for GPS and I was GPS positive. So I knew that when my waters ruptured at a call my midwives to let them know that and they would want me to come in right away. So even though labor was not intense, or even fully started yet, we packed up our apartment, set some food for the cats and headed up to New Haven where we were birthing. When I was in the car, I sat on a huge stack of towels and still managed to soak through everything.

We also called my mom right before she we left because she was going to be also joining part of my birth team. So we got there, went through triage they checked to make sure that my waters had indeed ruptured and they confirm that they did

So at that point we got checked in and just started waiting. They checked me and they said I was only two centimeters dilated when I heard that I was a little crushed, but they said, they said it's something annelise I was dilated, so that was good. So we just kind of settled in Peter, I was having back labor at that point. So Peter was helping me out with applying counterpressure and holding heating pads and doing anything to help relieve some of that intense feeling such as came with each search. So few hours later, my mom arrived and it's nice to be able to talk to her kind of got my mind off of the whole of my contractions which was really helpful. And as also receiving penicillin during this periodically for the GBS and that was making me very sick. So along with the back labor, I was vomiting with each dose of the penicillin that I was getting for the Group B strep.

So definitely wasn't in a great headspace I was very welcome to have some distraction.

Around 5am in the morning, my lower back was really starting to become pain. And I got into the bath hoping to soothe it, even though they cautioned against it because it might slow down my labor. And I wasn't too progressed at that point.

But it was nice to just have some relief in the tub. And then I started throwing out more and they said I had gout. So I did that. And at this point, my mom was just like, I'm sure you're there. My longest labor was five hours, this has already been 10. Get them to check you. You are sounding very near to that transition point. I didn't really want to be checked by Peter and my mom were adamant that we get some type of confirmation about my progress. So they did and I let them know I don't want to know how far dilated I am unless I am all the way there. So when they pull back and kind of just left the room, I realized I was not there yet. And I was still in there for who knows how much longer so just kind of sat back relaxed a little bit because I was hungry and then I was exhausted. It had been about 13 hours. And I was over the back labor. So we've started to discuss some options and we decided that I would take little Benadryl to help me nap and some state all

to help with some of the pain that I was feeling my lower back. So check those fell asleep, woke up two hours later called in the nurse let her know that I felt like I had to poop and she said that's an awesome sign and one to get the midwives to check me. They came in check me said I was ready to push and the sense of relief I felt at that moment was awesome. It was just such a good feeling.

To be fair, knowing that we're at that stage where I can really start being an active participant and bringing Keegan closer to me. So we started pushing, they pulled a mirror over so I could help watch our so I could watch the progress, which was really cool.

And I really just want at my own pace, pushing took two hours, but it never felt long time was not linear for me at that moment. And with each push, I tried out several positions.

And then I settled in one where I could really get a good view with the mirror and I felt comfortable and I was still exhausted. So I was on my side in the bed, which helped my body. Just relax a little bit more, I think. And then, two hours later, with some big pushes. The head was so close and our midwife at least told Peter to go down towards me feet so he could receive her. And we had decided that we wanted him to do that. And I just remember one big push later and her head fully came out and her shoulders, or her whole body should have slid right out of me into his arms. And he put her on my chest. And I can't even describe the feeling that I felt at that moment was incredible. And then she did her little breast crawl, and within a minute, she was latched and we were nursing and it just felt great. It was just a such an incredibly awesome experience and the connection I automatically felt to kick in when she was put on my chest and even before then it just felt so such a relief to have her in my arms and to be able to see her and her little toes and her little feet and it was a really peaceful experience at that point and even my stitches were just so minor. I just had one laceration.

And our midwife quickly stitched me up and I felt good enough to stand and walk around and hold her and it was just awesome. It was. I remember her asking me after all of that, if I'm ready to have another one and I said yes, I, it was really such a great birthing experience that I really had no fear or anything about pregnancy or birth. It really was a great experience with the most incredible result.